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Thursday, 28 January 2016

A sobering trend in business travel is
forcing companies to re-evaluate their processes and systems for controlling
costs.

A recent study by the Global Business
Travel Association (GBTA), reveals that across the board employees are choosing
to ‘do it themselves’ and go out-of-policy when it comes to reserving hotels,
flights and land travel (train/car), as opposed to using their in company
management service.

The study surveyed over 2,000 business
travellers, from six countries around the globe including: The U.S., U.K.,
Canada, France, Germany, and Australia. Its findings clearly point to the fact
that 'out-of-policy decision making is common among business travellers'
with percentages varying depending on the country:

France: 65%

United States: 59%

U.K: 52%

Canada: 52%

Germany: 49%

Australia: 47%

So why are people choosing to ‘go it alone’?

“I booked out of policy because it was
so much easier,” says Mallika Chaudhuri, former design manager at Hey Trends, a
Turkish based fashion company. “It used to take ages and hundreds of emails to
use the in-house system and I also felt that things got lost in translation. So
I booked flights and hotels for me and the team on my own.”

In the on-demand age of globalisation,
consumer online tools are winning out over preferred travel vendors, because
for many, like Chaudhuri, it’s simply more efficient.

The backlash is that companies are
losing out.

As more young, less experienced, tech
savvy travellers working for smaller companies veer further away from the
‘dinosaur age’ of using in-house systems, companies are increasingly losing
money and failing to ensure compliance.

The study shows that those who book out
of policy often end up taking longer trips, staying at more expensive hotels
and booking higher class air and train tickets. Out-of-policy travel choices
are costing companies thousands.

France, for example, has an increased
annual travel cost per out- of-policy traveler, of over 15,000 Euros with the U.K,
spending an added 1,400 pounds (1,900 Euros) per person per year and Australia,
at the bottom of the ladder, still spending 2,600 AUS (1,700 Euros).

Not only does going out-of-policy
affect a company’s financial bottom line, it also plays a role in employees’
productivity. Those who ‘did it themselves’ using OTAs (online travel
agencies), spent more time – usually company time – comparing costs and booking
flights than those who went through the in-house system.

“I've gone out of
policy on occasions where desired flight times weren't available or I could
source a better rate myself,” says a senior manager at a leading software
company based in the U.S. “I would also use it when I wanted to stay at a hotel
that wasn’t part of the available inventory.”

According to the
study, hotel accommodation tops the list for out-of-policy travel, followed by
air/train tickets. When staying at a hotel, there are various ways business
travellers go out-of-policy including:

Ordering room
service 24%

Staying at a non-preferred hotel
13%

Getting in-room entertainment 11%

Staying an unnecessary extra night
10%

Staying at a more
expensive/higher-class hotel 8%

39% of these travellers state the
choice is for personal reasons

Yet at the
core of people’s motivations to go out-of-policy is the lack of fresh and agile
solutions coming from their employers. When companies fail to keep-up-with
advancing technology, problems arise. In this day and age, online travel
technologies have not only driven greater transparency, but also more
competitive shopping and pricing. OTAs and similar platforms are providing
employees with the know-how to book, travel and spend the way they feel most
comfortable, regardless of their employers' policies. Companies need
to adapt to this world and offer new solutions that empower employees to make
the right decisions independently that work for both the company and the
traveling employee.

This post was written byJavier
Suarez, CPO and Founder of TravelPerk. TravelPerk is an all-in-one travel
management platform where companies can budget, book and manage all of their
business trips in one place while saving 30 % travel costs and 80 % of your
time.

They are looking forward to
exhibit at the Business Travel Show, to meet old and new customers, partners
and other innovators in the industry. Connect them via www.travelperk.com or
Linkedin (www.linkedin.com/in/julianamendez and Javier Suarez)and
meet at the Business Travel Show - register now at
www.businesstravelshow.com

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

In 2015 ground
transportation has been one of the most discussed topics in the business travel
industry circles. For many years technology constraints related to difficulties
in integrating content to GDS and self-booking tools were keeping the ground
transportation out of corporate travel sight. However, in the current era of
digital breakthroughs, service and technology providers have discovered
opportunities for embracing the challenge. TMCs have shifted the focus on
uncovering the potential of the business opportunity and customer delights, and
travel managers have realised the importance of ground transportation for
keeping track of all business travel elements and achieving savings.

Despite the fact that
service and technology providers, TMCs and travel managers have the common
interest in bringing the ground transportation to a whole new level, there is
still a lot of room for improving cooperation.

As the travel managers
retain the buying power, they are exposed to a great variety of emerging
technologies - incorporated in the TMC offering or stand-alone solutions,
providing access to one mode of ground transport or several at the same
time. While every solution has its own strengths, it is important for
buyers to understand, what it is that they prioritise the most and find the
right balance. There are few questions to consider, for example:

- How well is the solution
integrated with tools for booking and buying business travel?
Solutions integrated with booking flows and back office systems positively
influence expense management and provide other benefits of automated reporting
and booking. Such technology integration usually means that the solution has
been approved by TMCs, which gives it additional layer of trust.

- How global is the solution?
Partnering with service providers, there is a possibility to skip the
technology intermediaries and negotiate directly, but it would usually mean the
adoption of stand-alone solutions from multiple suppliers worldwide. It is a
good choice, if the organisation buying travel operates within boundaries of
certain geographical area. Globally operating solutions or aggregator platforms
provide access to hundreds of destinations and suppliers from one window, and
may be a better option for multinational corporations looking for standard
solution. Global solutions and aggregators have different perceptions of safety
and regulations, which should be carefully examined, when selecting a solution
of your choice. Aggregators may also prioritise partnering with the preferred
service providers, if the travel buyer has a preferred brand in a certain
area.

- How fast can the solution be adopted?
User-friendly interface and mobile responsiveness will speed up the solution
adoption among business travellers - easy booking and cancellation are at the
base.

When developing taxi and airport transfer
booking engine at Cabforce, we have emphasised the role of cooperation. We have
closely worked and continue working with travel agencies, business travel
buyers and suppliers. This allowed us to develop the solution, which reflects
the needs of the global travel industry: in terms of the content, the
distribution technology and the passenger experience. The content is
represented by hundreds of certified taxi and airport transfer providers
worldwide available through one booking platform - an aggregated content of the
fragmented taxi industry. The second element is the distribution technology:
the content is distributed via innovative integration (e.g. workflow and
back-office system integration, profile and payment) into major travel booking
tools, such as Amadeus Selling Platform™ and Travelport Smartpoint™, as well as
the leading corporate self-booking tools, such as Amadeus e-Travel Management™
and KDS Neo™. The last element is the passenger experience, which is built on
such components as 24/7 customer service, standardised pickup procedures across
all the suppliers, electronic vouchers and receipts.

This blog post was written by Janne
Aarniovuori, Head of Agency Solutions at Cabforce.

Visit the Cabforce stand
(B844) at the Business Travel Show to discuss partnership opportunities and
learn how they can help you optimise the taxi and airport transfer booking
processes and costs. Register now at http://goo.gl/F55mKX

Cabforce is a
technology and services company providing global travel industry with taxi and
airport transfer booking solutions. Cabforce partners with hundreds of
certified transfer providers to deliver unified service with fixed rates in
over 400 destinations in over 70 countries worldwide. With Cabforce travellers,
corporate travel arrangers and travel agents can pre-book taxis and airport
transfers just like flights and hotels.